#168 At That Time in the West (4)
The results of the second investigation, after interrogating the instructor who had been the ringleader.
His motive had been jealousy of Diana’s talent and greed for the money she had paid.
Thirsting for learning, Diana had absorbed every bit of knowledge she was taught like a sponge, and that was more than enough to provoke the inferiority complex of a man who had been forced to step back from the front lines due to his lacking ability.
In that situation, when she had readily paid a rather hefty tuition fee, he had set his sights on her money as well and deliberately orchestrated this affair.
“Tsk, pathetic. Deal with them as you see fit.”
“Yes! Lord.”
Heinz waved his hand carelessly, dismissing the vampire who had come to report.
He had only removed them because they had happened to be an eyesore right in front of him; from his standpoint, they were nothing more than small fry no longer worth any attention.
After that, matters proceeded quickly, as if with a favorable wind filling the sails.
As a precaution, he arranged for the finest medical staff to examine Rafi’s condition again, and along with a large donation, instructed a priest of the Order to confirm it once more.
He also pressed the officials to make preparations so that the immigration procedures could be carried out as quickly as possible.
In truth, there was nothing in this country that would not be done if he wished it, so it was only natural that everything went smoothly.
“Come now— I told you, dear, you should throw all this out. Think how far we have to go from now on. It’s all baggage!”
“Oh dear, but it’s such a waste. How can I throw it away? I suppose I should at least take it over to Billy’s mother.”
“That sounds good. Let’s hand out everything that’s troublesome to dispose of to the people who helped us this time.”
And perhaps because the Volt family had lost their affection for the city after this incident, they readily decided to follow Diana.
Of course, it was not as if there had been no neighbors at all who had helped them little by little when times were hard, but there had been far more people who had coldly turned them away over money.
They understood that it was a difficult time for everyone, but even so, given that they had lived their lives by giving no small amount to those around them, the wounds could not help but be deep.
Rather than continue living here while carrying awkward, strained relationships, they decided it would be better to shake everything off and make a fresh start with Diana, helping Heinz, their benefactor, with his work.
And so, after several days of moving about busily with hardly a moment to breathe.
At last, the family, having disposed of all their remaining assets and settled even their minor debts—.
Stood before the teleportation magic circle of the Magic Tower, carrying only a simple amount of luggage.
“...Gulp.”
“My goodness, to think I’d come to a place like this in my lifetime...”
“Oppappappa! That thing over there is shining! Pretty!”
“No, Rafi! Y-you can’t just touch things here! You’ll be in big trouble! Really!”
With the full support of the civil servants, they had quickly gone up to the capital, Talaria, and from there, as the schedule flowed onward, they had somehow arrived all the way here.
To the depths of the Magic Tower, a place an ordinary person would never have any connection to in their lifetime.
They had fully expected that a man named Heinz was no ordinary figure, but seeing every necessary matter pass through as if on a free pass, even moving state institutions, was enough to leave them dumbfounded.
And this was not even to some other territory, but to another country...
“Now then, everyone, please step onto the magic circle. We will begin activation shortly.”
Just then, a mage of the Magic Tower, synonymous with arrogance and eccentricity, spoke to them in a kind voice.
This, too, was just as difficult to get used to.
“You don’t need to be too nervous. Our Rocapelli Magic Tower is the best on the continent when it comes to spatial magic. The probability of a problem occurring during transport is close to zero!”
Those words carried the frightening implication that the probability was not actually zero, but the group, tense as they were, had no room to think deeply and stepped stiffly onto the magic circle.
Wooooong—!
And as if it had been waiting for just that, together with a brilliantly glowing light and a loud vibration.
Ziiiiiing—!
An ordinary family of five from Rapella City in the Kingdom of Thalia was teleported to Tarak, in the County of Aonia in the northern Kingdom of Tulk.***
Unlike the temple gates, which could not be used by just anyone and could not be influenced by power, spatial movement through the Magic Tower was a means of travel that could be used easily as long as one had money.
However, it had two major drawbacks.
The first was that using it even once required an eye-popping amount of money...
“Oh dear, are the two of you all right?”
“...Hoo, I’m fine now.”
“...Me too...”
And the second was that, unlike the gates, the ride was extremely unpleasant.
How bad was it? Bad enough that the mages at the destination handed over buckets one by one immediately after teleportation as if they were used to it.
Unlike the three children, who had managed to endure it reasonably well, perhaps because they were young, the two adults had been sprawled on a bench with pale faces, and only after getting some fresh air outside were they in the middle of recovering their strength.
“I had no chance earlier and couldn’t greet you properly. Then allow me to introduce myself again. I am Hubert, the head of the Hubert Company.”
And once they had barely managed to steady themselves, the greetings that had not been exchanged properly finally began in earnest.
“From now on, I intend to personally take care of matters so that all of you can settle down well here in Tarak, so there is no need to worry. Lord Heinz and I are no ordinary close acquaintances, you see.”
“Ah! So you were the head of the company. I apologize for showing you such an unsightly state from the beginning. I am Volt. Please speak comfortably with me.”
Volt, his complexion still haggard, respectfully took the hand lightly extended for a handshake in both of his.
Hubert had not acted particularly authoritative, but that low posture had come out instinctively before he realized it.
The outfit adorned with luxurious, high-end goods, and the jeweled accessories glittering all over his body, flaunting their presence.
At a glance, they seemed ostentatious and lacking in dignity, like those of a nouveau riche, but Volt, who had an eye sharpened through many years of business, could tell that every one of those things was no ordinary item.
‘Could all of those be magic tools? Good heavens, then how much is he wearing on his body?’
And what of the burly guards and disciplined-looking attendants naturally surrounding this place at a slight distance?
The sharp gazes that flicked toward them from time to time, carrying a honed edge, were enough to make his hair stand on end without him realizing it.
“Ah, my apologies. Something unpleasant happened not long ago, so I raised the level of security a bit. Please bear with it, even if it makes you uncomfortable.”
“Oh, not at all! No matter what anyone says, safety is the most important thing, yes!”
The pressure that naturally flowed from Hubert made his attitude become courteous of its own accord.
It was a golden charisma born from wealth itself, different in nature from Heinz’s bloody, fearsome charisma.
Though all he had done was run a small grocery store, he too was a merchant.
And for merchants, the one with more money was always the superior party.
Hubert greeted the other family members one by one, then subtly turned his gaze toward Diana.
As expected, she seemed to have recognized his identity, her eyes round as she only worked her lips soundlessly.
‘Still, she’s perceptive enough not to act like she knows.’
Since they would be working together going forward anyway, Heinz had already given her a rough explanation a few days ago.
That since he was a vampire and it would be difficult for him to go with them, he would go ahead by another method, disguise himself, and wait for them.
Thus having become “another appearance of Heinz,” Hubert looked at Diana and gave her a signal with a slight wink.
“I-I’ll be in your care.”
Reading that signal, Diana smiled awkwardly, pretended not to know anything, and exchanged greetings with him.
She already knew that Heinz could change his face, and she had personally seen him conceal his presence as well.
Since they were different bodies, there was a slight difference in scent, but when one thought about it, if he was hiding his identity to this extent, it would be stranger for everything to be exactly the same.
Having convinced herself all on her own, she gave a small nod.
“Then since everyone seems to be all right now, let us begin moving. I have prepared a carriage, but if you feel unwell on the way, tell the coachman at any time.”
“Thank you for your consideration, sir.”
The Volt family gathered close together and began boarding a single carriage.
Rafi bounced excitedly at the sight of the large, splendid carriage, while Diana tried to calm her down.
Watching the scene, Hubert slowly stroked his chin.
‘When I think about it, Diana’s ability is almost as efficient in this industry as Hubert’s Appraisal.’
Even when she had worked at what was essentially a little shop in an alley, her ability had apparently been a great help in bringing in fresh goods.
There would be truly endless ways to make use of that ability in the far larger Hubert Company.
‘Ordinarily, because of the issue of her career history, it would be difficult for her to properly make use of the ability she has...’
But who was he?
Was he not the owner of the Hubert Company, which was now being reborn as the largest merchant group not only in Tarak, but in the northern region of the Kingdom of Tulk?
With his full support, no one would dare touch her.
A talented person with ties to him, high trustworthiness, and competence to boot.
As for the secret she carried, there was no way to uncover it immediately anyway, so it was not something to worry about right now.
‘Sniff sniff— I smell it.’
And quite a strong scent of money, at that.
Hubert gazed at Diana with sparkling eyes and smiled warmly.***
Running a nation was no simple matter.
Power naturally came with heavy responsibility, and accordingly, it was not particularly rare for kings in history to die young.
Judiciary, administration, economy, public order, military, diplomacy, and so on.
Even when deciding a simple matter, there were endless conditions to consider, and the consequences that branched out each time something was chosen were also endlessly unpredictable.
On the day one made a wrong choice, it often did not end as merely an individual problem, but caused the nation itself to totter, so it could truly be called a breeding ground for stress and a shortcut to shortening one’s lifespan.
‘Though that only applies when you handle everything from start to finish yourself.’
Sitting in the office chair, the true ruler of the Kingdom of Thalia, Heinz II, leisurely tilted his wine glass while lightly skimming the reports.
“Hmm, it’s certainly better than before.”
He nodded as he read through the documents one by one.
Work was always most reliable when entrusted to experts.
If he, who had only ever run nations in games, needlessly interfered deeply in state affairs, wouldn’t he ruin even a perfectly fine country in an instant?
So he only presented the general direction and absolutely did not meddle in the details.
“...Tsk, this one’s a bit much.”
Of course, even in the midst of that, proposals that veered away from the direction he had in mind for various reasons were bound to appear.
But as mentioned before, there was no way he possessed the ability to solve problems that the experts had missed...
So naturally, there was only one thing he could do here.
—This part and that part aren’t to my liking, so take those into consideration and do it again.
Rolling his subordinates until it worked.
This too could be called interference in state affairs, but he was absolutely not forcefully pushing through policies that would not work.
He was merely encouraging smart people to think up better methods.
In all things in the world, there were always multiple paths, and people had the potential to find a breakthrough somehow when driven to the extreme.
‘They’re people who can do it if they try. They must have been playing around and eating comfortably until now, so shouldn’t they work hard at times like this?’
Naturally, in this status-based society, those who could be called experts in running the nation could only be extremely limited.
They were none other than the highest strata of the nation and the intellectual class: the royal family, the nobility, and high-ranking officials.
Under the rule of the Brokoslak Clan, those lethargic people who had merely repeated the same policies by inertia were finally given a place where their talents could bloom!
...Whether they had truly wanted that was another matter.
‘That’s none of my business.’
After all, he had merely laid the stage where they could perform.
And so, the proposals soaked in the blood, sweat, and tears of the Kingdom of Thalia’s upper ranks began to be approved one by one.
Only when their resentment, lamentation, and pent-up anger had come to cling to every single letter—.
At last, in the Kingdom of Thalia, in the far west of the Ion Continent.
The vampire clan alliance, “Hybrid,” revealed itself upon the forefront of history.